


Flight to Catch

by OnceABlueMoon



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Airplanes, Brazil, During Timeskip (Haikyuu), Flying, Future Fic, Gen, Moving, Podfic Welcome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:55:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27179567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceABlueMoon/pseuds/OnceABlueMoon
Summary: Shouyou has flown countless times. He has soared over the court, on the fumes of Air Salonpas, slamming the ball down like a god throwing down lightning from above. He has had the wings of a crow, larger and quicker than Kageyama’s, as he sped ahead in their daily sprint. In his dreams, he has even conquered the clouds, towns and cities but little dots beneath him.Here is a secret: though Shouyou has flown many times… He has never flown in an airplane.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Flight to Catch

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Haikyuu

Shouyou has flown countless times. He has soared over the court, on the fumes of Air Salonpas, slamming the ball down like a god throwing down lightning from above. He has had the wings of a crow, larger and quicker than Kageyama’s, as he sped ahead in their daily sprint. In his dreams, he has even conquered the clouds, towns and cities but little dots beneath him. 

Here is a secret: though Shouyou has flown many times… He has never flown in an airplane. 

His stomach twists and he doubles over, quickly ducking towards the bathroom. Before he even gets to the door, the personnel stops him. ‘’Sir, the plane is boarding.’’ 

Oh, never mind then. With a roiling stomach, Shouyou takes a deep breath and joins the other passengers in walking through the automatic glass doors at the other end of the waiting room. The open-air greets him, still a little cold as spring is just starting to bloom. Brazil will be warmer, he knows. He looked it up this morning, with his knees jittering in excitement. 

His mother had shaken her head at him, turning her eyes towards the ceiling even as she pulled him against her. She’d kissed his hair many a time this morning. The knowledge she won’t do so again for at least six months tears at him. But he can’t let it get to him- he’s got Brazil to conquer, new volleyball techniques to learn and before that- board an airplane.

It’s big.  _ Very big.  _ It makes him a little breathless, the lack of air in his lungs playing up as if he’s just run a little too hard to be qualified for a jog. He almost expects to hear the first years whining at him again not to run ahead, but they’re far behind now, and he’s about to put even more distance between them. A distance they may not be able to close.

He shakes his head. No getting lost in his head. 

Will an airplane that big even be able to lift off the ground? It must weigh a ton! It seems impossible. Then again, Karasuno reaching Nationals had once seemed impossible too, and they’d managed to fly, hadn’t they? If they’d managed to do that, then an airplane like this must be able to fly, and Shouyou should have the courage to board it. A deep breath. 

The stairs onto the plane are metal and make peculiar sounds when he walks on them. They’re rickety, swaying from side to side. It doesn’t help his stomach. 

A few smiling flight attendants and the captain are waiting for him in the plane. ‘’Welcome aboard!’’ Their uniforms are black with red accents, like an inverted Nekoma uniform, though a lot more formal. Their smiles seem to be part of it as well, though most of them do seem to be genuine. The one on the left is a bit grumpy. Her smile is forced. 

Hinata doesn’t mind. It’s grounding. 

‘’Could I see your ticket, please?’’ Her sugary sweet tone is even more sickly than her forced smile. 

Hinata is a bit suspicious- what is she going to do with his ticket?! He worked his behind off for that ticket, he can’t afford another one- but hands it over anyway. She’s the expert, surely. 

She squints at it for a second, before saying: ‘’Second aisle, row four, window seat.’’ She pushes cheap earphones from the basket she’s holding into his hand. 

Shouyou nods like he knows what that means, takes his ticket back from her and turns around to actually figure out if he can find his seat. 

Thankfully it’s simpler than it sounded. The rows are clearly labelled and even if they weren’t, the fourth row is not so far that counting would’ve been annoying. There are already two people in the row, but they stand up so he can get to his chair once he’s stuffed his backpack into the overhead lockers. 

The window seat is wonderful, even if the white window cover looks alien. Experimentally, he slides it down and up and down again, before the old man beside him clears his throat and gives him a look. Slowly, very slowly, Shouyou slides the window cover up again. Let’s not aggravate his neighbour for the next twelve hours too much before the flight even takes off. 

Then he notices the screen embedded into the back of the chair in front of him. It’s a tablet. A TV screen. Something in the back of his mind goes  _ boom,  _ and that’s it. Shouyou’s final two brain cells have been fried. 

_ This is so cool!  _

He’s scrambling to search all the settings and options, when he realizes this might very well be his last chance to check his texts before the first layover. Fishing it out of his pocket, he turns it on. Several names flash across the screen: his mother, his sister, Kageyama and the Karasuno group chat. He texts his mom a quick reassurance that he’s boarded, sends his sister a string of emojis in return. She just got her first phone and she’s very proud of it, he’ll have to make sure to send her a lot of pictures. He doesn’t bother opening the group chat. There will be too many messages to read. He’ll get to it either when he’s in Brazil, or at one of the layovers if he’s bored enough.

That leaves Kageyama’s texts. 

_ Bakageyama: You finally calmed down?  _

_ Hinata: I wasn’t worried in the first place! _

_ Bakageyama: Yeah, right. Your sister paint those bags underneath your eyes?  _

_ Hinata: HA! I WON’T FALL FOR THAT ONE AGAIN!  _

_ Hinata: YOU CAN’T EVEN SEE ME!  _

_ Bakageyama: Because you didn’t let me see you off, idiot _

There is no way Shouyou can tell him that he’d forbidden him from coming because it would make leaving even harder. 

‘’Please put your devices in airplane mode to avoid interference.’’ The flight attendant calls. 

Shouyou sends a quick final text:  _ No, you’re the idiot. Gotta go.  _ Before turning the airplane mode on and slipping his phone back into his pocket. He’s got no need for it if he can’t text or call anyway. Calling would cost a fortune besides. 

Shouyou will be skyping home a lot, though. That’s free, which will allow for far more precious minutes of seeing his friends and family’s faces. 

A flight attendant in the front is demonstrating the safety procedures as the speakers above them crackle to life and a voice guides them through it. Shouyou tries to memorize them, but it’s a lot of information and he resolves to read the manual they refer to as soon as they take off. He’d rather not that this plane is the one that decides to have an engine failure or something. His stomach roils again and he clasps a hand in front of his mouth. The old man next to him gives him a nasty glare. 

Look, Shouyou can’t help his stomach, okay?!

It seems to take ages before the behemoth of a plane starts to move, but eventually, it does, and Shouyou can’t help but clutch the armrests. Just the thought of the sheer amount of energy needed to create this momentum makes him shake. 

The airplane taxis around for a while, then stops. The airplane starts to move again, the engines slowly making more and more noise as they accelerate and Shouyou is pushed back against his seat by the speed. There’s a final, loud thud, and the airplane takes to the sky. 

His eyes widen as his body seems to lose its weight for a moment. For a second, just a single second, he feels like he’s floating, before he crashes back onto earth. Or well, onto his chair. It’s a somewhat familiar sensation- when he jumps really high- really, really high- there is this moment of weightlessness as well. But it’s far shorter than this sensation lasts and it’s strange. Not unpleasant, though. 

They’re ascending quickly, and Shouyou’s ears pop painfully. Oh, dang, he forgot to chew the bubble gum his mom tucked into his backpack. Well, too late for that now. He swallows. 

The air tastes strange and the airplane makes a lot of noise that seems to melt into the background. It doesn’t help him much. He forgot to take his meds in his excitement this morning and his ADHD is playing up. He can’t help but bounce his leg. His right one, of course, to avoid angering his neighbour even further. 

All up for distracting himself, he touches the screen in front of him. Several movies appear. Selecting one, he puts in the earbuds the flight attendant gave him. They’re uncomfortably large and keep falling out, but it’s all he’s got right now. His headphones are in his suitcase. He waits for the Mission Impossible theme to start. Slowly, his eyelids get heavier and heavier, until he eventually falls asleep. 

He dreams of the journeys he’ll make.

* * *

‘’We are now arriving at the city of Dubai, please look through your window. On the left, you will notice the sea with the gorgeous city on your right.’’ 

Shouyou startles awake as the speaker once again crackles to life. He’s spent most of the flight sleeping, only waking up for food, which was an experience all on its own. He should’ve known though- he’d barely slept the night before. He’d had the jitters badly, going over everything he’d packed in his head over and over until he’d tired himself out. If he’d gotten two hours of sleep before waking up for his flight he’d be pleasantly surprised.

The captain keeps talking about the sights as they descend. Yawning, Shouyou pushes the window cover up to see what’s happening. 

His eyes widen. The city is breathtaking. They’ve already passed the sea by now, and the buildings are extremely clear. Large bodies of water sparkle in between. If he remembers right, it’s about 4 pm here, a five-hour difference with Japan. It’s visible, the sun still high in the sky, the city vivid and oh-so busy. Shouyou’s glad he set out to travel. He’s never let the fear of the fall stop him from leaping and he isn’t about to start now. 

He’s glad he took his bubblegum out of his backpack the last time he got back from the toilet. He pops a piece of gum into his mouth and begins to chew vigorously. He’s got no desire to repeat the earlier uncomfortable experience with his ears popping. 

It doesn’t work a hundred percent, but it’s certainly better than before. 

They’re soaring lower and lower, the engines roaring until they finally land with a lot of impact. It rattles through his body. 

‘’Thank you for flying with Japan Airlines.’’ the captain says over the speaker as they arrive. 

It takes a long time for everyone to get their luggage and get out of the airplane. Shouyou’s just wants to get  _ out  _ of the airplane at this point. He’s been in it for twelve hours, he wants to greet this whole new country now! He’s only got two hours before his next flight, and he wants to eat something at the airport too. 

He bows to the flight attendants. They wave him off with cheer- even the grumpy one. 

He steps out of the airplane. The heat slams into him. Quickly ridding himself of his jacket, he grins up at the sun. It’s so bright he has to shield his eyes. Just like his future. 

He’s got a flight to catch. 

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this sitting in my docs for months now- at least over half a year- for no reason at all. It was finished. I just didn't post it. Today I thought it really was time I got to it XD
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!


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